Madhya Pradesh is situated in the heart of India where peacocks wander wild through thick teak forests and tigers prowl through several of the country’s best wildlife sanctuaries. The state is home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites at the tenth-century temples of Khajuraho, which are covered in erotic sculpture, a reminder of India’s ancient artistic heritage. Millennia-old Buddhist monuments found in Sanchi and palaeolithic cave paintings at Bhimbetka showcase so much of the subcontinent’s unimaginably long history compressed into a single, vastly unexplored region.

At AIME 2018, Madhya Pradesh will showcase its 25 wildlife sanctuaries and ten national parks covering an area of about 10,000 sq km. Madhya Pradesh is known as the ‘Tiger State’ as it is home to almost 20 percent of India’s tiger population. The forests are also refuge to barking deer, leopards, cheetal, wild boars, blackbucks, nilgais, crocodiles and barasingha – a swamp deer, which is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh.

Tiger safaris are just one of a number of Madhya Pradesh’s unique experiences. Lonely Planet describes the temples of Khajuraho as among the finest temples in the word. Travel to Bhimbetka, where there are over 500 caves filled with panoramic paintings depicting the life of prehistoric cave dwellers. Then there is Sanchi, a major Buddhist pilgrimage site offering an ensemble of stupas, holy shrines and monasteries, considered to be one of the oldest stone structures in India. The Great Stupa is a monument constructed to portray the life and journey of Buddha.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism decision-makers have recognised just how perfect their destination is for Australian travellers and look forward to working with new partners at AIME.

Access to Madhya Pradesh is plentiful with more than ten flights from Australia to India every day, on a variety of airlines including Qantas, Air India, Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.